Usage

Hard Bitter Pill to Swallow—The Unpleasant Truth

Hard (Bitter) Pill to Swallow—The Unpleasant Truth

A hard pill to swallow is an idiomatic expression that describes a difficult or unpleasant truth that may present a challenge to accept. It often indicates that accepting reality may be mentally or emotionally demanding. Idioms like hard pill to swallow are expressions whose meanings aren’t directly derived from the …

Read More

Getting Hitched Origin Meaning 2

Getting Hitched – Origin and Meaning

Curious about the meaning of the phrase “getting hitched”? Well, you’ve come to the right place! I love shedding light on how to properly use the English language and all its many confusing terms. Getting hitched is considered slang, but it has a widely accepted meaning which I’ll cover right …

Read More

Wink vs. Blink Whats the Difference 2

Wink vs. Blink – What’s the Difference?

We often hear the terms blink and wink in conversation, writing and even popular song lyrics. But have we ever stopped to ponder the subtle differences between these two actions? Let’s set our eyeballs on these verbs of vision in more detail and uncover their hidden subtleties. Difference Between Blink …

Read More

What Is a Snark Usage Definition 2

What Is a Snark? – Usage & Definition

Languages are constantly evolving through the addition of new words, alternative definitions and the loss of certain archaic phrases that haven’t passed the test of time. Most new words derive from existing words or phrases and, after a certain amount of time, make their way into everyday language. Snark is …

Read More

The end justifies the means

The end justifies the means is a proverb of uncertain origin, though the philosophy behind it has been argued for thousands of years. We will examine the meaning of the expression the end justifies the means, where it came from, and some examples of its use in sentences. The end …

Read More

Character or caricature

Character and caricature are two words that are close in spelling and pronunciation but have very different meanings. We will examine the difference between the definitions of character and caricature, where these two words came from, and some examples of their use in sentences. The word character has many different …

Read More

Access vs excess

Access and excess are two words that are close in spelling and pronunciation, but have very different definitions. We will examine the difference between the meanings of access and excess, where these words came from, and some examples of their use in sentences. Access means the route whereby one enters …

Read More

Outset vs onset

Outset and onset are two words that are similar in meaning, but have very different connotations. A word’s connotation is all the meanings and associations it bears in addition to its literal meaning. We will examine the definitions and the connotations of the words outset and onset, where each of …

Read More

Poseur vs poser

Poseur and poser are two words that many find confusing because they are very similar in spelling and pronunciation. Poseur and poser have different definitions, but are becoming increasingly interchangeable in certain circumstances. Poseur is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, and poser is pronounced with the accent …

Read More

A lot vs allot

A lot and allot are two expressions that are pronounced in the same way and are spelled very similarly, but have different meanings. They are often confused. It can be difficult to learn how to spell English words, because though there are many spelling rules, there are always exceptions. Do …

Read More